See also:

The second World War, 1939-1945

Hitler's invasion of Poland in September 1939 led to the outbreak of the Second World War.

During the early stages, the conflict was confined mainly to Europe, but later extended to the rest of the world following the Japanese
attack on Pearl Harbor which led to the United States also entering the war.

The "total war" mobilized the economic and industrial resources of all belligerents and caused the death of some 50 million people, most of whom were civilians.

The war ended with the fall of Berlin by the Red Army in May 1945 and the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in early August 1945.

The Polish ghettos, Massacres by the Einsatzgruppen; the extermination camps: Sobibor, Majdanek, Belzec, Chelmno and Auschwitz-Birkenau; the Wansee Conference; between 5 and 6 million European Jews killed between September 1939 and May 1945

Military Operations in Asia 1944-1945

Atomic bombs on the city of Hiroshima on 6 August 1945 and on Nagasaki three days later;

Japanese surrender, 2 September 1945.

Major International Conferences

Throughout the war, the Axis military powers did not coordinate their campaigns. The Allies held regular international conferences during which they discussed major strategies and plans for the post-war period. Conferences in Casablanca, Tehran, Yalta, Potsdam.

Allied Decisions after the War

Creation of the UN, Nuremberg and Tokyo trials, occupation of Germany, major territorial decisions in Europe and Asia.